Herald of Steel

Alexander’s mention of the war treaty quickly made the entire court perk up their ears, including Amenheraft and his faction. They were all interested to know the Ptolomy’s attitude towards such a deal.

Thus the man on the throne quickly felt an enormous number of pressing gazes land on him. However the king himself was not much better than his retainers regarding this, i.e.- he had hardly given the topic any thought.

Unable to respond to it, he thus quickly transposed the pressure to Lord Assazd, signaling him to answer on his behalf.

‘Damn it!’ Lord Assazd cursed inside sensing the mounting expectation as he was really being put on the spot here. This was a broad topic and he currently did not have all the answers with him.

Thus, flashing an amicable smile, he tried to breezily eschew pass the topic,

“Lord Alexander is being too anxious. There is still a year to the agreement. We have already started holding preliminary talks with many members, and so rest assured, by the time it comes, we will have an even longer, more robust treaty than this one – I promise peace will prevail in Adhan.”

The beautifully mustachioed man loudly declared so- firmly swinging his clenched fist to emphasize the strength of his determination.

And many people in court, especially the smaller, less powerful families breathed a sigh of relief at this.

These were the nobles who were extremely reluctant to go to war anytime soon- their population had been decimated by the three year drought and the mere five preceding years were hardly enough to recover from such a loss.

They would at least need a generation to get their manpower back to their peak and possibly much longer.

This, Lord Assazd being a local lord was all too aware- which was why he gave the court such an answer, helping him get him many followers.

Then determined to keep up that momentum, he directly pointed at Alexander’s nose and accused him with a pointed gaze,

“But I must say Alexander, what most surprised me was your words. Why are you talking about war from the get go? Are you wishing for the treaty to break? Has your bloodlust known no bounds… hmmmph! As expected of a barbarian!”

“…” Alexander did not flinch even at the extremely rude words. He also looked past how a mere Matbar (Marquiss) had addressed a Pasha like him without the proper honorifics.

And his heart remained unmoved even as he felt many angry stares from all around penetrate him- as already said, many of the nobles, especially from Adhan still hated him for the sacking of the capital and the subsequent carnage.

So Lord Assazd’s words sought to reinforce their view of Alexander.

The man under scrutiny however only slowly nodded his head, replying in a cool, cold voice, “You and me share similar feelings, Lord Assazd. I too am most surprised that all that you want is peace…. even when Amenheraft still lives!”

At this point, Alexander’s eyes flashed a chilly light and raising his clasped fist, he shook it powerfully in front of everyone,

“Here we have the pretender still controlling almost three quarters of the land and instead of taking the charge and proclaiming you will get the lands back for Your Majesty- there is a certain faction in court who are hiding like a scared rat, crying about peace and treaties. I would never have believed it if I had not seen it for myself!”

Alexander watched with satisfaction as Lord Assazd’s face turn red like a tomato at the grievous insult, as he arrogantly lifted his chin up and loudly declared,

“Snort! What treaty! What peace! What reconciliation! Amenheraft and all his supporters are traitors and renegades… guilty of the most heinous crime of treason.”

“We need war! We need conquest! We need to show the world who the true ruler of Adhania is. Only with such achievements can we spread the great name of His Majesty, Ptolomy all across the lands!”

“…..”

The whole court entered another bout of stunned silence as each of Alexander’s words sounded the gong of an approaching army to their ears. They were so grand and striking that all the men needed some time to process this.

Soon, many zealous eyes began to blaze with ambition, as the call for battle stoked the egos of these hot blooded men- willing to die for war booty, for land, for glory and for their king,

Others, such as the ones who felt relieved by Lord Assazd’s call for peace became fearful and hesitant, not wishing to shed blood.

While the most clever ones, such as Lord Assazd and his retainers felt a headache coming, clearing knowing this was all a trick. They did not think it was a wise move to pick such a frontal fight with Amenheraft- the risks were too great and the potential rewards too small. So they quickly began to wrack their heads trying to think of a way to counter Alexander.

Penultimately, there were the two men who were utterly impressed by it.

One was the gullible Ptolomy, who, having his ego stoked suddenly found the hateful Alexander becoming extremely likable to his eyes. Thus sparks of admiration could be seen flowing out.

The other was Pasha Farzah who smirked because he knew the real goal of all this- it was all just smoke and mirrors. The reason Alexander was so loudly proclaiming his plans was clearly to make the enemy divert all their attention there- thus creating a blind spot elsewhere.

‘Sigh… brat- if only you were son.’ Thus watching the entire plot slowly unfold before his eyes with great amazement and amusement, the old lord could not help but ruefully muse as such.

He at last found solace in the fact that Alexander was his son in law.

Lastly, there were those who felt great anger at Alexander’s call- and almost all of them all came from Amenheraft’s faction- making up almost half the court. These men began to send their nearby liege all kinds of signals on how they should respond, eager to jump in and tear Alexander a new one.

But the former crown prince only flashed his palms and asked them to restrain themselves. Amenheraft, being an extremely skilled statesman decided the best course of action for now would be to just watch and watch his enemy tear themselves apart.

As they say, ‘Do not stop your enemy when he is making mistakes.’

The middle man thus began to cheer in his heart seeing such an open clash between Alexander and the rest of Ptolomy’s group,

‘Fight, fight, fight! I always knew my younger brother was an idiot but still… I did not think he was that stupid. Airing out all his dirty laundry so openly… haha that idiot even has ruined his relation with Alexander….’

‘Fool does not the only reason I have honored the treaty was because of that slave brat. Snort, you want to march on Ankoot. No! I will march on Adhan before that! ‘

As such, Amenheraft was glad to be the innocent bystander for now, watching the show unfold with a cunning snake like glint.

It was just too bad that for all his hubris, the man failed to consider even for a second that perhaps he too was falling into Alexander’s carefully laid trap.

The consequences of that would be for another time, as right now, the Lord of Zanzan was focused on his immediate opponent, pointing his index finger at that beautiful mustache, and finishing,

“Tell me Lord Assazd- how many people have come to know about His Majesty under your rule? Pasha Farzah has made Matrak know his glorious name. And soon because of his daughter Rusti too will know.”

“I have spread his name across Zanzan and most impressively to Tibias- Adhania’s fiercest rival. Even the barbarian island of Galiosos across the Mad Sea sings hymns of His Geart Majesty. What great honor for me and the Royal family! Whereas you… hehe, all you have are a bunch of lackeys who know how to wag their tails. And to think you said I know nothing about ruling, hahaha!”

“..*Crack*…” Alexander could have sworn he heard a tooth crack as Lord Assazd sent him a death glare, his eyes becoming more and more inflamed with each note of that derisive chuckle.

He even noticed the furious man nearly clutch his sword, almost wishing to strike Alexander down then and there.

And this subtle actions made Alexander indeed confirm the analysis Pasha Farzah’s gave- Lord Assazd was indeed an extremely accomplished swordsman- because only one supremely confident in skill would instinctively take refuge with his weapons during times to extreme emotions.

“Clap, clap, clap- hahaha, indeed, indeed, Lord Alexander indeed said the truth. All the lands that are in my brother’s hands must be reclaimed. We are already strong enough… there is no need to extend the treaty.”

Lord Assazd’s mood worsened even further hearing Ptolomy’s words, as he vehemently cursed the fat man for his lack of intelligence, ‘Stupid pig… you have no idea what the difference is between you and your brother! Arghhh…I cannot believe I am actually missing your father. He was mad but at least not stupid. You tub of lard… ‘

And he almost lost it when Pasha Farzah joined with his flattery,

“Indeed, Your Majesty is wise. Whether we extend the treaty or annul it, we will need the men. Amenheraft will never deal with us justly if we deal with him from a positon of weakness. Only the true threat of marhicng into Ankoot will force him to hand over territory.”